Bear that wandered into Stokes State Forest campsite captured, killed

Robert Sciarrino/The Star-LedgerCampsites in Stokes State Park in Sussex County were empty by late Wednesday afternoon as word spread that two boys were injured that morning in a bear attack while camping along the Appalachian Trail. Officials today, however, said the boys' injuries were not caused by a bear.

BRANCHVILLE — An 18-month-old black bear who wandered into a Sussex County campsite before dawn on Wednesday, scaring a group of young campers, was captured and euthanized late Friday, state environmental officials said today.

The 102-pound male bruin was caught around 10:15 p.m. in a snare that had been set up near the campsite in Stokes State Forest, where it was first spotted, officials said.

The bear wandered into the campground where a group of nine inner-city boys and two counselors were sleeping about 4:30 a.m. It pulled at a sleeping bag and swiped at a tent and knocked it down.

The counselors and campers clapped, blew a whistle and sang and shouted, and finally a conservation officer shot the animal in the neck, driving it away.

Initial reports indicated the bear attacked and injured two young boys, but it was later determined the boys' injuries were old and not from from the bear.

Still, the bear was being treated as a Category 1, the most dangerous type of bear, because of its aggressive behavior, said Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“There are some animal activists out there who seem to be wanting to tell you that these bears were friendly," Ragonese said this afternoon. "That’s not the case. The bear was aggressive. This was a public health and safety issue.”

Janine Motta, a spokesperson for the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, criticized DEP officials for euthanizing the bear.

She noted that no one has ever been killed by a black bear in New Jersey.

"Once they got this bear in their sights, this poor baby was dead. The fact that he didn’t touch any campers doesn’t matter," said Motta, whose group advocates for non-lethal bear management and an end to an annual controlled black bear hunt which occurs every December. "He had a mark on his head. He was doomed."

The area around the Stokes forest campsite remains closed to campers because the scent from the bait used to attract the bruin could lure more bears to the area, Ragonese said. All other traps have been removed and the campsite will reopen in two to three days, he said.

DEP officials do not know what motivated the bear, but had said last week that young bears can be cantankerous because they’re on their own for the first time.

Yearlings are usually forced from their dens in June, and by mid-summer many are fanning out across the state in search of new places to live, officials said.